I own a Prius IV and was wanting to upgrade my 15" wheels to 17" Prius V wheels. I came across an auction for a Prius V OEM wheel that stated the following in the description "This wheel is for the Prius V only, the ABS Unit and EPS is not set up to accept a 17" wheel if you don't have the V". Now I've seen a lot of III AND IV models with Prius OEM 17" wheels. I was wondering if anyone has encountered this situation and if there was any truth about the ABS/EPS not functioning properly. The other question I have is can I expect to get the same MPG if I do upgrade to the 17" wheels. Thanks
Yes there will be a decrease in mpg and it will depend on the weight of the alloy, the weight of the tyre, the design of the alloy (drag) and the width of the tyre (friction). As for ABS/VSC, he's probably just covering his bases. There may be some cars that have issues with upsizing the wheels but there are a number of members here that have successfully upsized without issue.
You should expect a ~1.8 mpg hit based on published numbers. The 17"-wheel Prius EPS has a brushless motor system that allows the tighter ratio, but the 17" wheels will fit II-IV just fine.
